Health and safety stops bins from being emptied

Councils have been criticised for introducing health and safety legislation that has prevented waste disposal workers from emptying bins.

The measures, which include non-taking of rubbish unless bins are tightly shut, have been introduced in a bid to prevent workers from being injured by falling rubbish.

East Hampshire district council claimed that the new legislation would encourage people to recycle more of their own waste.

However, Mark Wallace, campaign director for the Taxpayers' Alliance, said: "As far as most taxpayers are concerned, you put your refuse in your bin and expect it to be collected. For councils not to collect it because the lid is not shut is absurd."

This sort of policy will result in more fly-tipping and rubbish being left by the roadside, he added.

According to the Telegraph, the results of a survey from 2007 found that a third of councils in England and Wales would not collect waste if bin lids were not shut properly - to prevent injury and to encourage recycling.

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